Vehicle guard for highways

ABSTRACT

An elongated sheet folded along its length and presenting two sides which extend from the upwardly positioned fold down to the highway. The sides terminate at their lower ends in aprons which extend on the highway or therealong, and the two sides are freely spaced apart from the common fold. The sides are concavely curved down to the aprons, and punch-outs or tangs project from the sides and extend downwardly from the location of the aprons for being imbedded in the highway to anchor the guard in the highway. Another embodiment shown has only one side shaped and curved as mentioned, and the opposite side is planar and extends vertically from the common fold between the two sides.

United States Patent Templeton [451 Apr. 25, 1972 [54] VEHICLE GUARD FOR HIGHWAYS [21] Appl. No.: 84,810

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 821,894 10/1959 GreatBritain ..256/l3.1

840,107 4/1970 Canada ..256/13.l

Primary Examiner-Dennis L. Taylor Att0rneyArthur J. l-lansmann 57 ABSTRACT An elongated sheet folded along its length and presenting two sides which extend from the upwardly positioned fold down to the highway. The sides terminate at their lower ends in aprons which extend on the highway or therealong, and the two sides are freely spaced apart from the common fold. The sides are concavely curved down to the aprons, and punch-outs or tangs project from the sides and extend downwardly from the location of the aprons for being imbedded in the highway to anchor the guard in the highway. Another embodiment shown has only one side shaped and curved as mentioned, and the opposite side is planar and extends vertically from the common fold between the two sides.

10 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures "PATENTEmPnzs 1972 3.658.300

I N 1 5 N T OR RICHARD A. TEMPLETON g A TTORNE) VEHICLE GUARD FOR HIGHWAYS This invention relates to a vehicle guard for highways.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Guards for highways are commonly known and already exist in many different shapes and forms for the purpose of guiding a vehicle along a highway and for obstructing the vehicles movement off the highway. As such, these guards are safety guards which tend to insure that the vehicular traffic will remain on the highway and will continue along the highway and thereby avoid deviating from the highway and going onto the shoulder of the road or onto the median strip and crossing into the path of oncoming traffic. One such form of prior art highway guide rail is that shown in U. S. Pat. No. 1,726,267. Another prior art highway safety guard is shown in U. S. Pat. Re. No. 16,649. Highway safety guards also commonly exist in the form of guard rails which are spaced above the roadway and extend parallel thereto, and they may be in the form as shown in U. S. Pat. No. 3,077,339, which shows a yieldable type of highway rail guard.

In the prior art safety guards, such as those referred to above, the guards are constructed and installed in manners which entail expensive, time-consuming, and elaborate labor and means. That is, the guards themselves are made of expen sive materials, and the guards commonly require time-consuming labor which also involves and requires special skills and equipment for installing the guards. Still further, when a portion of the prior art guards is to be replaced because of damage or the like, again it is a laborious and expensive operation to do so. Still further, the prior art guards do not serve their fully intended function of preventing the vehicle from leaving the highway by accidental deviation. Instead, the vehicles can commonly break through the guards and deviate from the highway to result in serious accidents. Thus, some of the prior art guards are made to be so rigid that when they are struck by a vehicle, the vehicle bounces off the guard and is actually thrown to the other side of the highway where serious accidents commonly occur in such instances. In installations where the guard is not completely rigid, the guards are commonly so flimsy that the vehicle can go right through the guard and again a serious accident results. Thus, U. S. Pat. No. 1,726,267, is an example of an overly rigid guard which is virtually nothing more than a fixed curb, which may be of solid concrete, and, once the vehicle strikes thecurb, it tends to throw the vehicle into a dangerous position. Also, U. S. Pat. No. 3,077,339, shows an example of a' prior art attempt to overcome the problem of having vehicles break through flimsy guard rails, and the attempt is made by having the guard rail posts of a yieldable spring steel to absorb the impact energy from the vehicle. Also, reissue US. Pat. No. 16,649, shows an example of a guard which requires the elaborate and numerous road bed imbedded anchors, and the entire guard is described as arranged so that the major force of the impact of the vehicle is at the top of the guard.

The present invention has the general object of improving upon the prior art types of guards, including those referred to above.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide a highway guard which is inexpensive to make, and which is inexpensive and is easy to install in the highway, and which is inexpensive and easy to replace sections of the guard, as desired.

Another more specific object of this invention is to provide a highway guard which is of an improved efficiency in keeping automobiles on the highway and thereby preventing them from overrunning the guard and deviating from the highway, compared to the guards of the prior art. In accomplishing this object of improved efficiency, it is also significant that'the guard of this invention functions to retard vehicular roadway deviation regardless of the size of the wheel of the particular vehicle, that is, whether the vehicle be of a small car type or of a large truck.

Still further, the guard of this invention is arranged in a manner which takes into account the fact that a modern day vehicle has the automobile body and bumper and other parts extending laterally beyond the vehicle wheel, but, the guard of this invention is arranged so to engage the wheel and thereby guide the movement of the vehicle, rather than permitting the other parts of the vehicle to engage the guard and thereby overcome the strength of the guard and thereby actually damage the guard itself while permitting the vehicle to overrun the guard.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of one embodiment of a guard of this invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged end elevational view of the guard shown in FIG. 1, and showing the guard with respect to the highway shown in dot-dash lines.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of two of the guards shown relative to each other.

FIG. 4 is a side perspective view of a guard of another em bodiment thereof.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged end elevational view of the guard of FIG. 4, and showing the guard relative to the highway in dotdash lines.

FIG. 6 is an end elevational view of the guard of FIG. l, and showing a vehicle wheel on the guard.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an elongated sheet of material, preferably of a sheet steel, and generally designated 10. The material is folded along its length to present an upper fold 11 and two diverging and depending sides 12 and 13 extending downwardly from the upper fold 11. The sides 12 and 13 are freely spaced apart, that is, they are not otherwise affixed to each other or in contact with each other, except for their juncture at the common fold 11. Further, the sides 12 and 13 are shown concavely curved from the upper view or top, such that the sides 12 and 13 curve outwardly at their lower ends which terminate in flat or planar-shaped aprons l4 and 16, respectively. The aprons 14 and 16 are of a sufficient length of at least several inches, and the aprons 14 and 16 extend parallel to and along the road bed or highway, such as that designated 17 in FIG. 2 and shown in dot-dash lines.

The curvature for sides 12 and 13 is a parabolic curve, and, the parabola is formed with a one-eighth inch measurement from the vertex to the focus of the parabolic shape shown on the original drawings. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the parabola and shape shown in FIG. 2 is such that the aforesaid measurement compared to the height of the guard from the surface of the roadway 17 up to the fold 11 is in proportion of l to 26, approximately. Still further, as shown in FIG. 2, the width of the guard from the base of each parabolic shape shown, compared to the stated height of the guard, is approximately 1 to 1.

Also, the sheet 10 has punch-outs shown thereon, and they form spades or tangs 18 which extend downwardly below the plane of the aprons l4 and 16 so that the spades 18 can enter the roadway and thereby imbed in the roadway and thus anchor the guard on the highway, as shown. The spades 18 may actually be of a triangular or arrowhead shape, and they may actually be located along the guard to be hammered into the highway, if the highway be of a material which will receive the triangular shaped tangs l8, and such highway material might be fresh asphalt or stone or the like, and of course it could also include freshly poured concrete. Also, the guard could be installed simply by laying it on the highway 17 and having a roller run over each guard apron l4 and 16 and thereby press the aprons down and to also imbed the tangs 18 into the highway, and this type of installation is a great improvement over types heretofore known.

FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 show the embodiment of the guard which is preferably for a center or median strip on a highway having multiple traffic lanes in different directions. Thus, both guard sides 12 and 13 are facing toward the trafiic, and both guard sides 12 and 13 are available for preventing the vehicle from crossing the guard. FIG. 3 shows how the individual guards 10 can be positioned end to end to form one continuous guard strip, and the guards are shown to have a common joint line designated 19.

FIGS. 4 and show another embodiment of the guard, and, this is shown as guard designated 21 which is tended to be used along one side of the highway. The guard 21 has a concavely curved side 22 which is to the side of the traffic, and the side 22 terminates in an apron 23 which is planar in shape to extend along the roadway 24. The left side of the guard 21, and the left side of the roadway 24, as viewed in FIG. 5, would be toward the traffic, while the guard opposite side 26 and its apron 27 would be along the shoulder of the road, as designated 28. Here again, spades or tangs 18 extend below the aprons 23 and 27 to be imbedded in the highway, as described. The guard 21 has a fold line 29 extending along the top, and the side 23 depends from the line 29 into the parabolic shape previously described. The guard side 26 is shown to be planar and extends vertically from the fold 29. Of course the guard for use at the side of the road could actually be of the shape of the guard 10. With respect to both guards l0 and 21, the sides have openings 31 which were left by the formation of the tangs 18. The openings 31 are therefore available for rain drainage off the guards, and, the tangs 18 are therefore formed from the sheet presenting the guard itself, so no additional anchors or connectors are required between the guards and the roadway, and the tangs are therefore an integral part of the guards.

FIG. 6 shows the guard when it is subjected to a small vehicle wheel designated 32. In this instance, the guard apron 16 has the wheel 32 thereon, and the lower portion of the guard side 13 also has the wheel riding thereon. Therefore, the guard fold 11 is displaced off the vertical plane designated 33 of the guard 10. That is, FIG. 6 shows that the guard 10 will flex, as both sides 12 and 13 bend under the pressure of the wheel 32. An important feature is that the wheel 32 first rolls onto the apron 16, and the guard is therefore in the nature of being self-anchoring in that the wheel holds the guard 10 onto the roadway. When the wheel 32 reaches the lower portion of the guard side 13, the guard is still being pressed onto the roadway by the wheel 32, so the guard is not readily displaced under the force of the wheel 32. Instead, the guard actually directs the steering wheel of the vehicle back toward the roadway, without permitting the vehicle to overrun the guard and without damaging the guard, since the guard is of a flexible material and will actually yield and return to its original shape, of course depending upon the severity of the force applied to the guard. Also, it will be noted that the vehicle over-hanging portion 34, which may be the fender or bumper of the vehicle, is not in contact with the guard since the guard is shaped as described. Thus, as previously described and as shown in FIG. 2, the embodiment shown therein is of a guard which is symmetrical about a vertical plane through the fold l1, and the guard may assume the flexed position shown in FIG. 6, when the guard is subjected to the force of a wheel, but the guard will recover and will not be damaged.

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle guard for highways, comprising an elongated sheet folded along its length and presenting two sides, said sides being joined at said fold and extending downwardly therefrom freely spaced apart from each other and presenting a hollow interior and with at least one of said sides terminating in an apron extending along said one side and onto the highway for accommodating the wheel of a vehicle using the highway, the other of said sides extending downwardly to the level of said apron for also extending onto the hi hway, at least said one 0 said sides being concavely tangentia y curved relative to and contiguous to said apron for having a portion of said vehicle wheel roll onto the concaved curvature while the remainder of said vehicle wheel is on said apron and thereby holding said guard down onto the highway, and both said sides of said sheet being flexible under the pressure of said wheel rolling onto said concaved curvature, for absorbing the force of said wheel and to tend to recover to its original shape when said wheel is removed.

2. The vehicle guard as claimed in claim 1, wherein said concaved curvature is a parabolic curve extending for the height of said one side.

3. The vehicle guard as claimed in claim 1, wherein both said sides are concavely curved.

4. The vehicle guard as claimed in claim 3, wherein said guard is symmetrical about a vertical plane through said fold.

5. The vehicle guard as claimed in claim 3, wherein both said sides are parabolically curved for the height of said sides.

6. The vehicle guard as claimed in claim 1, wherein both said sides terminate in a planar apron at their free ends for having said aprons lie on the highway.

7. The vehicle guard as claimed in claim 3, wherein both said sides terminate in a planar apron at their free ends, for having said aprons lie on the highway.

8. The vehicle guard as claimed in claim 7, wherein said concaved curvatures are respectively tangential and contiguous to said aprons.

9. The vehicle guard as claimed in claim 1, including projections extending from and being integral with said apron for imbedding into the highway for anchoring said guard onto the highway.

10. The vehicle guard as claimed in claim 1, including tangs formed from and integral with said one side at the tangency line thereof and extending to the convex side of said one side for imbedding into the highway to anchor said guard onto the highway. 

1. A vehicle guard for highways, comprising an elongated sheet folded along its length and presenting two sides, said sides being joined at said fold and extending downwardly therefrom freely spaced apart from each other and presenting a hollow interior and with at least one of said sides terminating in an apron extending along said one side and onto the highway for accommodating the wheel of a vehicle using the highway, the other of said sides extending downwardly to the level of said apron for also extending onto the highway, at least said one of said sides being concavely tangentially curved relative to and contiguous to said apron for having a portion of said vehicle wheel roll onto the concaved curvature while the remainder of said vehicle wheel is on said apron and thereby holding said guard down onto the highway, and both said sides of said sheet being flexible under the pressure of said wheel rolling onto said concaved curvature, for absorbing the force of said wheel and to tend to recover to its original shape when said wheel is removed.
 2. The vehicle guard as claimed in claim 1, wherein said concaved curvature is a parabolic curve extending for the height of said one side.
 3. The vehicle guard as claimed in claim 1, wherein both said sides are concavely curved.
 4. The vehicle guard as claimed in claim 3, wherein said guard is symmetrical about a vertical plane through said fold.
 5. The vehicle guard as claimed in claim 3, wherein both said sides are parabolically curved for the height of said sides.
 6. The vehicle guard as claimed in claim 1, wherein both said sides terminate in a planar apron at their free ends for having said aprons lie on the highway.
 7. The vehicle guard as claimed in claim 3, wherein both said sides terminate in a planar apron at their free ends, for having said aprons lie on the highway.
 8. The vehicle guard as claimed in claim 7, wherein said concaved curvatures are respectively tangential and contiguous to said aprons.
 9. The vehicle guard as claimed in claim 1, including projections extending from and being integral with said apron for imbedding into the highway for anchoring said guard onto the highway.
 10. The vehicle guard as claimed in claim 1, including tangs formed from and integral with said one side at the tangency line thereof and extending to the convex side of said one side for imbedding into the highway to anchor said guard onto the highway. 